Client, Customer and Partner Gifts From a Working Farm

The question behind a client gift is never what to send. It is what the gift says about you to somebody who is deciding whether to keep working with you.

“If you're an investment banker, and somebody sent you a referral or somebody brought you a deal, and you just got a 10% commission on a $10 million deal, you know, nice way to keep them feeling valued. If you're a custom home builder, it's a great, you know, client housewarming gift that, Hey, thanks for the opportunity to build your house for you. Let me give you the first meal that you're going to cook in that kitchen and go grill these on the new flat top.”

Gray Shipley

That is the shape of it. The gift is proportionate to what the relationship produced, and it arrives at a moment the person connects with the thing that just happened.

Where this works best

“We found that commercial construction firms, lawn care, and wealth management firms are, and professional services are the best. The limitations you run into, like in healthcare, you got stark laws and large purchasing departments have rules about, you know, their purchasing groups can't accept gifts.”

Gray Shipley

Worth hearing plainly, because it saves you an awkward conversation. Some sectors have rules about what an employee may accept, and large purchasing departments often have their own. Healthcare in particular has limits worth checking before you send anything.

“And then in wealth management, it's often, you know, you're sending to wealthy individuals. And, you know, so they want something that really stands out. They're willing to spend a little bit extra and, you know, individuals don't have restraints on accepting gifts.”

Gray Shipley

Where you are sending to individuals rather than to companies, those limits mostly fall away and the gift can be more substantial.

Put your card in the box

“We do like to, for those that want to send us your branded card, your customized Christmas card. We can get it in the box. And so the client gets the note directly from you without you having to do anything more.”

Gray Shipley

The recipient opens a box of beef from a farm in the mountains and finds a note from you. Nothing about it reads as a bulk order, because it is not being handled like one.

Timing

“Reach out to us early. You know, Christmas is our busiest time and we run out of stuff quick. And so we like to take care of our corporate customers and our longstanding customers first. So yeah, get in touch early, you know, reach out in September, early October and start the process helps us to know, you know, about how many boxes, about what price points, you're thinking, you know, for you, whether it's employees or clients.”

Gray Shipley

September or early October for Christmas. If that has passed, January is better than late December anyway: your box is the only one in the room rather than the fifth that week.

Sizing it so it does not create an obligation

• Referral or introduction. Small and prompt beats large and late.
• A closed deal. Proportionate to the deal, and sent while the thing is still fresh.
• Ongoing relationship. Modest and regular reads better than one large annual gesture.

When you are stocking a freezer, not making a dinner

Thomas the Butcher's Curated Collection, 9-10 lb

Nine to ten pounds, chosen by our butcher. This is the one to send to a household that cooks most nights.

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The one to send when it should feel like an occasion

The Steakhouse Box

Steaks, chosen so the person opening it knows immediately that someone spent thought rather than money.

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When the gift needs to carry some weight

Shipley Farms Gift Card $250

Enough for a real box and the shipping, with room for them to add what they actually want.

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The mechanics are in corporate gifting made easy, volume is handled in sending 25, 50 or 100 gifts, and the internal equivalent is employee and team gifts.